The former Massachusetts governor became the first Mormon to be nominated for president by either major party, a distinction that eluded his father, George Romney, an unsuccessful Republican candidate in the 1960s. The milestone, ensured months ago by Romney's primary-season victories, ended a nomination journey of more than five years that included his defeat in the 2008 contest.

Romney's wife, Ann, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were the prime-time attractions on a hastily reprogrammed opening night. Their appearances were designed to advance the convention's dual purpose: to give voters a more intimate glimpse of the GOP nominee and to amplify Romney's critique of Obama.

It was the candidate's wife who stole the evening. Her deeply personal remarks, woven around the story of their life and family, was also a paean to women — a voter group that has been largely resistant to her husband — as the pivotal force in everyday life.

"I love you women! And I hear your voices," she said during 21-minute speech punctuated with nervous laughs. "You are the best of America."

The reflections by the person who knows him best — a down-to-earth speaker who is also, by all accounts, his most effective surrogate — were designed to counter negative voter perceptions of Romney. National polls show him with the lowest personal favorability ratings of any presidential nominee in more than 25 years.

"Let me say this to every American who is thinking about who should be our next president: No one will work harder. No one will care more. And no one will move heaven and earth like Mitt Romney to make this country a better place to live!" she said, in the night's biggest applause line, as the arena crowd jumped to its feet.

By referring to her own health struggles, Romney tried to knock down what she said were exaggerated perceptions of theirs as a "storybook marriage." That too seemed part of the broader Romney campaign effort to provide a contrast to his image as a wealthy businessman, born into privilege, who can't relate to the struggles of everyday people.

"Those storybooks never seemed to have chapters called MS [multiple sclerosis] or breast cancer," she said. "A storybook marriage? Nope, not at all. What Mitt Romney and I have is a real marriage."

For her and other speakers, the night's refrain was a play on an Obama campaign line about public works that aid private business ("If you've got a business, you didn't build that").

"As his partner on this amazing journey, I can tell you Mitt Romney was not handed success. He built it," she said pointedly, prompting crowd chants of, "He built it!"

When she was done, her husband emerged from backstage, past a collage of black-and-white blowups from the family album, to hug her and deliver two brief kisses. "You were fabulous," he told her.

Christie, the tough-talking Jersey pol who rejected repeated urgings to enter this year's presidential race — and who many analysts are convinced is already maneuvering for a future national run — was chosen by Romney to deliver the evening-ending keynote address, a convention staple that typically features some of the most combative rhetoric of the entire event.

Notably for an election contest marked by overwhelmingly negative ad campaigns from both sides, Christie avoided lacerating personal references to Obama. Instead, he delivered an outsider message aimed at the nation's leaders, prefaced by a long description of his own life and gubernatorial record.

Christie never mentioned Obama by name. The first-term governor's most direct reference accused "Mr. President" of being poll-driven, a familiar gibe at incumbents.

"I'm here to tell you tonight that it is time to end this era of absentee leadership in the Oval Office and send real leaders to the White House. America needs Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, and we need them right now," Christie said to loud applause. Romney looked on from the audience, seated between his wife and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.PHOTOS: The protests of the GOP convention

One of the hardest-hitting attacks on Obama came from unsuccessful GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum. The socially conservative former Pennsylvania senator assailed Obama's election-year executive actions to spare some young illegal immigrants from deportation and allow states to seek waivers from the federal welfare law that Santorum helped draft.